Canterbury Tales And Medieval Women Essay, Research Paper

Geoffrey Chaucer?s Impression of Women during Medieval Times Geoffrey Chaucer

wrote the Canterbury Tales in the late 1400s. He came up with the idea of a

pilgrimage to Canterbury in which each character attempts to tell the best

story. In that setting Chaucer cleverly reveals a particular social condition of

England during the time. In this period, the status, role, and attitudes towards

women were clearly different from that of today. Two tales in Chaucer?s

collection specifically address this subject: the Miller?s Tale and the

Reeve?s Tale. The interplay between the tales and characters further enhances

the similar viewpoints these stories have towards women. In the Middle Ages,

most women married and began raising children soon after reaching puberty. They

remained largely indoors, having no true chance to receive a formal education or

to gain any social or economic power. Husbands commonly had full control of

their wives, often limiting their public lives solely to the family. ? A wife

. . . must please her husband and be totally obedient to him, even when he is

unjust and violent.? (Blewitt, 662) In both the Miller?s and the Reeve?s

tales Chaucer presents the women of the household indoors in all instances.

Alison of the Miller?s Tale lives in a cottage alone with her husband John and

fly Nicholas, a scholar. Her implied role besides sexual purposes includes

tending to house chores, just as the Miller?s wife and daughter in the

Reeve?s Tale. Although, the women?s sole purpose as a wife comes naturally

as one of sexual purposes a wife?s first duty was to provide her husband with

an heir, and she could be divorced if she was barren. (Rhinesmith, 601) The wife

must be loyal to her husband and obey him, even when her husband commits

fiendish acts such as affairs. In these two tales, Chaucer brings about the

ideas of protection and immortality. With men often leaving the house to tend to

their own chores, the women of the house have plenty of chances to, ?play

around? with other men without their husbands knowing. John, the carpenter in

the Miller?s Tale, constantly worries about his eighteen year-old wife,

Alison. ?Jealous he was,? the Miller told us, ?and he kept her closely

caged, for she was wild and young, and he was old, and thought she would likely

make him a cuckold.? (Chaucer, 118) This protection of the women of the home

parallels that of Reeve?s Tale, in which Simon, the miller, protects his wife

and daughter, Molly, when he finds the mischievous Alan and John have slept with

them. ?By Holy God I?ll have you tripes for daring to dishonor my daughter .

. .? Simon exclaims. (Chaucer, 118) Full of rage, he attacks Alan as to

sustain his protection for his women. Immortality is discussed in the Miller and

Reeve?s tales in the sense that the women of both tales have no true sense of

integrity. Both John and Simon show some level of restraint over Alison, Molly,

and the miller?s wife, for ?Restraint is recommended (for women) in regard

to sexual behavior.? (Blewitt, 662) Fly Nicholas, who pays rent to stay with

John and Alison, finds John frequently leaves the house for many days as part of

his job. Nicholas is portrayed as the sliest character in both tales, knowing

all for love, sexual pursuits, and astrology. He approaches Alison one day and

makes an intense sexual pass, and after little resistance, Alison accepts the

pass. Alison then readily engages in sex with Nicholas, being assured that John

will not find out. She stops not even once to think of what this will cause to

her faithful and loving husband. Another such offense comes about when Alison

openly sticks her, ?Rompi? out the window for Absolom to kiss. Her overall

character seems as one that has no shame. To the same extent, the miller?s

wife and daughter, Molly, commit a similar crime of lewdness. John and Alan,

angry at the trick Simon has played on them, decide to sleep with Simon?s wife

and daughter that very same night. Carefully and cunningly, John gets Simon?s

wife into his bed, while Alan gets himself into Molly?s bed. Molly, just as

Alison readily accepts Alan?s sexual offer, for Chaucer writes, ?They soon

were one.? (Chaucer, 172) John uses a different approach to get Simon?s

wife, leading her to falsely believe his bed is actually hers. He

instantaneously begins to have fun, but again the wife believes it is her

husband who, ?Thrusts like a madman, hard and deep? upon her. (Chaucer, 173)

Although just implied, there exists as much immortality in her actions as that

of Molly and Alison. Having a child whom obviously has already passed through

puberty; Simon should be considerably older than John. Thus the miller?s wife

must have known that Simon was not receiving her pleasures in a way in which she

could not resist. If such immoral behaviors exist in Molly?s mother there

stands no question as to why Molly herself acts the same way. Not only does she

disrespect her own body, but even worse her loyalty towards her father. She

confirms with Alan that her father steals flour, and actually reveals that he

has taken some from them. Just as Alison desecrated her love for Simon, Molly

and her mother did the same for Simon. The two tales reveal a hint of the roles

women of medieval times play socially. That was what was expected and believed

of them. In Chaucer?s The Canterbury Tales, the Miller?s Tale and the

Reeve?s Tale each parallel the others through their representations of women.

In a period of time when the overall outlook on women was different from today,

Chaucer depicts the life of women as one filled with over-protection by the

husband or father, extensive chores solely on the house, and self-immortality.

Alison, the Miller?s wife and Molly all show or deal with these

characteristics of medieval women. Through their actions, The Canterbury Tales

holds a clear view of one particular social condition of the time, the depravity

of women.

Blewitt, Ralph. The Middle Ages, ?Courtesy Books.? Princeton: Princeton

Press, 1993. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Bantum Books,

1964. ?Geoffrey Chaucer.? (http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/19th-authors.html)

Rhinesmith, Harvey. The Middle Ages ?Family, Western European.? Princeton:

Princeton Printing Press, 1993.